Hushabye Mountains
by The Blue Moon Fairy
Summary: A fic set to the lullaby Hushabye Mountains. What would you give to save your dearest friend? have fun!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hellos! *waves frantically* just like to point out that I own none of the characters in here apart from the idiotic doctor *winks at NCD* and the lullaby Hushabye mountain belongs to Bobbie Gentry. Okay, now I look at it that was the disclaimer, this is the AN: in this fic I am using the phrase Hushabye mountain as a metaphor for death and Lullaby bay is a metaphor for Constance. Just put this in to help the lullabyfic make a little more sense. P.s don't assume the ending from this – it may not be as you think ;) **

The day was the day that Amelia never wanted to happen in her lifetime, she may not have been aware of this fact, but there was a strange presence lingering in the frozen air of the academy, a presence that would be the catalyst of an event that would change Amelia forever. After all, how could she continue to go on living as a mother without her child?

It was well known to the school that Amelia had no children, she had a niece, who, although sweet was hardly a close relative. Amelia had a mother and father – both of whom unfortunately deceased, she had two sisters - Agatha, whose evil nature made her both dangerous and soulless, and Althea, the mother of her niece. In Amelia's eyes, her birth family were more friends, or enemies in regards to Agatha. Her real family were those who inhabited the grounds of Cackles Academy, Cackles was where Amelia was at her happiest in life; she had a young, athletic niece named Imogen, an insane and ebullient sister, named Davina, who played the crazy aunt to her daughter – Constance.

As Amelia paced the halls of her academy, she stopped and for the first time in so many years, took in the beautiful aged stones that her academy was made from. As she gently stroked the walls of the corridor, she felt something, a presence, a presence that she would never be able to live without.

Removing her hand from the wall, Amelia decided to go and wake Constance; it was strange that her deputy hadn't arisen yet – she was always the first to be up – Amelia always put this down to Hecketty Broomhead's philosophy of a minute wasted is a minute lost. Amelia slowly neared the old door, stopping just before her aging hand knocked firmly on the partly singed wood. This brought back memories – Amelia remembered the first time Constance had come to the academy, never before had she seen a woman so struck with fear, and fear is a powerful emotion; fear can inspire us all to see things which are not truly there, especially when we cannot see in the first place – in the dark... in the night, is when the terror inside of us rushes through our body and can over take all rational thought. Amelia had come rushing to the room as soon as she had heard the explosion, upon reaching the room she found a petrified young witch shaking in the corner and clasping her hands in fear; clearly shocked by what she had done. Amelia had offered on many accounts to get the door replaced, yet, each time she asked Constance would refuse. Amelia was still unsure of what Constance had seen that night, but she knew that it was enough to cause the strongest witch that she had ever known to crumble.

"Constance..." Amelia called through the door. She paused and put her ear against the door – waiting for a reply. A few minutes passed before Amelia deemed something to be wrong; now she looked back on it, Constance had refused to eat a slither of food for a couple of days now, the marking wasn't as efficient as usual, the fights in the staffroom had been lost by Constance and now, now she wasn't replying. There was something wrong, why hadn't Amelia noticed it before? She used a spell to unlock the door and charged into the room, her heart stopped alongside her movement as she caught the sight of her deputy head mistress sprawled across the concrete floor.

"CONSTANCE!" Amelia rushed over as fast as her legs could carry her, kneeling down she held Constance's head up and rested it on her knee.

"Constance, Constance, please wake up, please..." Amelia begged, shaking Constance's shoulders lightly; gradually getting heavier as the panic rose through Amelia's bones.

"CONSTANCE HARDBROOM, GET UP THIS INSTANT!" Amelia called through panic, the churning feeling in her gut was making matters worse, why not her, why Constance?

Amelia heard a sharp gasp of air being taken in by the lungs that had been dormant for at least seven minutes – she lunged forward and pulled her deputy into a tight hug, "don't you ever do that to me again, Constance, is that understood? Don't you ever!" Amelia was rocking back and forth, refusing to let her deputy go; Amelia couldn't bear to lose someone so precious again. "Amelia, wha – what are you doing in here?" Constance murmured with slurred speech, hardly able to see Amelia due to the hurricane that was spinning around her head.

"That isn't important, Constance, get into bed, I'm sending for the doctor – you haven't been yourself lately.

"I-I don't need a doctor, Amelia, I'm fine, honestly." Constance was trying to sound as convincing as possible, but was having no luck; it was true what Amelia had said – she hadn't been in herself lately and this was about the sixth time that she had passed out in the last week and a half, it was only this time, however, that somebody had found her. The shame of it all.

"Well, we'll let the doctor be the judge of that, Constance," Amelia said. Certain that Constance was in bed, Amelia turned and left the room, magically sealing the door to ensure that her deputy would stay rested. Usually Amelia would be able to gather a rough idea of what illness someone had, after running a school for thirty odd years this became an easy thing to do. So why was Constance different? Why could she not tell what was wrong with her only daughter? Granted, Constance was not Amelia's child by blood, but she was by bond and they didn't need blood to bond them. The signs of something were there, just like clues in a mystery. There was the dramatically paled skin, the energy loss, the lack of eating and drinking, the constant fatigue that her deputy had been suffering lately and not forgetting the waves of dizziness her deputy had been getting; why couldn't Amelia put them together?

A full two hours later Dr Darkcauldron pulled up to the gates of Cackle's academy and listened to Amelia's panicky description of her colleague's symptoms, before deciding which equipment was going to be necessary for this assessment. Dr Darkcauldron entered Miss Hardbroom's room and Amelia made her way down to the staffroom where she waited anxiously for the diagnosis.

"She'll be fine, Miss Cackle, she always is," Imogen said reassuringly.

"I don't know, Imogen, she looks paler than a ghost, what if this time it really is serious? What if I lose her?"

Imogen was silent; she didn't know how to answer that question – how did she tell a mother that she could lose her child?

**A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain  
**

Luckily for Imogen the doctor knocked heavily on the door – apparently in some sort of panic. Amelia crossed the staffroom, being careful not to trip over the rug from Mongolia that Davina had gifted, or rather burdened the academy with and opened the door. Dr Darkcauldron burst through holding a semiconscious Hb in his arms; just like a groom does with the bride. Dr Darkcauldron placed Hb down on one of the more comfortable chairs in the staffroom upon the threat of being turned into a toad for the rest of his life.

"wha- what's the matter with her, Doctor?" Amelia asked, extremely concerned for her deputy

Imogen, without knowing it had made her way over to Constance and was checking for a fever – which later she felt foolish for since there was a professional doctor in the very same room.

"I'm afraid that Miss Hardbroom is a very ill woman – the illness is too far ahead for us to be able to stop it. Constance suffers from an extremely rare illness called Carixula, named after its founder, we hardly know anything about the disease in the world of magical medicine, except, it causes the shadows to come alive into the shape of your greatest fear. Many have been lost to the shadows, others to fear," he paused, "there have only been a few cases of survivors around the world, and given the state she is currently in, I'd say she hasn't much time, the shadows will be closing in and she will be taken. There is of course one solution which is much harder than it sounds," ha paused again to take a quick glance at Constance, "you must keep her out of the shadows." He looked gravely at Amelia whose eyes were reddened and filled with tears.

"She's dying?" Amelia managed to whisper through her constricted breathing.

"Good day Miss Cackle," Dr Darkcauldron said, removing his hat out of respect as he turned and left.

**Softly blows o'er Lullaby Bay  
**

How was Amelia supposed to keep Constance out of the shadows – the castle was filled with them, just like a haunted house is filled with cobwebs. The Carixula was lurking in the very foundations of the school; waiting to strike.

Amelia stood watching her deputy in the chair as she tried to come up with a plan of action, all of a sudden Constance's body went limp and her eyes closed, all traces of life exited her body leaving Amelia staring in horror.

"CONSTANCE!"

**It fills the sails of boats that are waiting  
waiting to sail your worries away.**

**

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****AN: (yes another one :D) hope you enjoyed, I will get the next chappie up as soon as possible meanwhile, enjoy your little cliffie, as I said at the top – things may not unravel the way they seem to be 8D**

***scuttles over to review button and points with hope***


	2. Chapter 2

**AN/ Just quickly like to thank my almost in tears reviewer and of course my scuttling one... THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS GUYS! *notices glare from readers* fine, I'll let you get on with the story, hope you enjoy! *crosses fingers and scuttles off stage* **

There was something wrong – Dr Darkcauldron could sense it. What was it, what had been playing on his mind? Maybe it was a sign telling him that, asides the obvious all was not well at the academy. What if something had happened after he had left? With a long drawn out sigh, Dr Darkcauldron placed his fine tea cup onto its saucer and gently put it down on the side of his cluttered table. Lifting himself out of his burgundy red cushioned armchair, he made his way across the front room, being careful not to tread on any of the papers or equipment which took over the majority of his floor Dr Darkcauldron picked up his berry patterned doctors bag and took a final glimpse at his floor. If it wasn't for the odd little specs of cream poking through the endless mounds of prescription paper he would have completely forgotten whether he owned a wooden floor or a carpeted one. With yet another sigh – a shorter one this time he took hold of his Wizard staff with the blue flashing light at the end and materialised to the gate of the academy. Imogen came darting out of the gate, barely noticing the doctor standing there as she hurried past, Imogen looked back to where Dr Darkcauldron was standing.

"Oh, Dr Darkcauldron, I thought that I saw you there, thank heavens you are here, there's something wrong with Miss Hardbroom, hurry! She has no pulse!"

"Where is she?" Dr Dark cauldron asked concerned.

Imogen signalled for him to follow so he did, as they run around the halls of the academy Dr Darkcauldron began to notice just how fit a person would have to be to do this daily.

"In here," Imogen said undoing the door to let the doctor in. As soon as he had entered the room Dr Darkcauldron knew instinctively that there was something wrong; his stomach was beginning to loop its self into butterfly knots and his throat tightened to the point of suffocation as soon as he had seen the paled complexion of the motionless body sitting, slouched in the armchair.

"Dr Darkcauldron, good, you're here," Amelia began before she was completely ignored and was pushed aside as the doctor hurried past. Kneeling quickly down besides Constance he pulled out the stethoscope and placed it on Miss Hardbroom's chest. He swore inwardly as he heard no heart beat and removed the stethoscope from her skin; his face was solemn as he turned to Amelia. "She has had the Carixula for too long, it's shutting down her system as we speak. I have never known the illness to act quite like this though – usually, the Carixula will shut down the nervous system to your brain which will prevent you from thinking and moving, this, however, seems to be doing things vice-versa. Even though her heart has stopped and her pulse has disappeared, she is still alive; she is still able to think, still able to hear."

Amelia was in tears – why couldn't it have happened to her?

Her deputy was almost dead, and most certainly dying; and there was nothing she could do to stop it, no help or kind words that she could offer would possibly help in this situation. Despite what the doctor was saying – in the long run Amelia would have preferred her deputy's mind to go first; she would have preferred the part of Constance that made her who she was to have gone before the heart – maybe this would have spared her the pain and humiliation that she would be going through at this moment.

**It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain  
**

The Shadows and whatever was lurking in them would be coming to take their victim, the persons greatest fear would come out of the darkness and ensnare the poor woman like a fawn in a bramble bush, Amelia Knew it, Dr Darkcauldron knew it. The Carixula would be the cause of death, the shadows and the fear would simply be the passage, after all, can thins which we cannot see, feel or hear harm us? Fear can, fear twists our minds and beliefs and it is such fear which will sneak out of the shadows; bringing an end to all that was, little do people realise – the greatest fear is fear its self.

**And your boat waits down by the quay  
**

"How long has she got left doctor?" Amelia asked, hardly able breathe let alone speak.

"I honestly don't know, it depends on the strength of the illness, Carixula is a strange thing, you can never be sure. It's getting dark, the chances are – she won't make it to the morning." This was the hardest part of Dr Darkcauldron's job – telling a mother that there was nothing he could do to save their child. "She'll be at peace," the doctor said glumly, looking down the whole time; it wasn't this woman's time to go, she was far too young.

As Dr Darkcauldron left the small room Amelia whispered under her breath without even realising,

"she'll never be at peace, the wounds of her past were never healed, she will always be here, be my deputy," the door clicked shut leaving a teary eyed Amelia left standing alone in the room where Constance lay. "My daughter."

**The winds of night so softly are sighing  
**

All of Constance's troubles had been building up over the years, had been adding to the unsettled pool of unsolved problems, untreated wounds of sadness – the damn holding the river in place was finally broken the spirit was finally gone and, like all rivers it ended its course far out in the ocean... far away.

**Soon they will fly your troubles to the sea**

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**The final chapter is up next... trust a little Fairy when she says... not all is as it seems :D hope you enjoyed *casually prods review button with hope***


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I apologise for the delay on this – writers block mixed with a hint of busyness and laziness is not a good mixture :P this is only short, but, I hope you have happy reading all the same ^_^**

Constance awoke, maybe all that had happened was a dream, perhaps Dr Darkcauldron was wrong and she never had Carixula. Maybe things would go back to normal, but did she want to find out? Did she dare? As she lay in bed, Constance wondered how Amelia would be today, she wondered whether things would ever be the same again.

A knock came at the door which jolted Constance away from her deep thoughts. It was Dr Darkcauldron.

"How are you today?" he asked.

"How do you think I am?" Constance retorted – she really did hate the doctor's inability to spot the obvious. How did he even get his license to practice magical healing at all?

"I'm afraid that there's bad news, I felt that you should be the first to know," he said lowering his head in remorse. Before Dr Darkcauldron could finish his sentence Constance picked up a lethal injection from the doctor's bag and dematerialised from the room, she was found half an hour later.

**So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain**

"Shhh, its okay, Davina, it will hurt less in the morning," Imogen tried to comfort the aging witch who, was far beyond the point of hysterical sobs.

"She wouldn't want you to be this upset, would she? She'd tell you not to be ridiculous, that she didn't want to be cried over."

At this point Dr Darkcauldron came through the door holding an empty syringe – the same one that Constance had disappeared with earlier that day.

"Is she...?" Imogen didn't want to finish her sentence. Dr Darkcauldron nodded gravely.

"A-and does she kno..." again the doctor merely nodded with his face down to the floor.

Imogen hugged Davina, unable to hold back the tears any longer – they both used each other as a form of support, a bit like a bridge; so they could cross their rivers of tears.

"It's okay," Imogen muttered, "she's at peace."

**Wave good...bye to cares of the day  
**Constance lay beside Amelia. Even the sky was raining with tears of sorrow, and the world was already less bright. As Constance rested, she couldn't help but to think of Amelia's greatest fear, of what the shadows would have turned into.

Constance assumed that they would have been Agatha, trying to, once again, take control of the academy.

Constance looked over to the purple flamed candle sitting beside the bed, this was how long she had left – as soon as the flame extinguished its self she would be gone, there must have only been a few minutes left before she left this world – if that. Glancing over at Amelia, Constance only wished that it would be her that was taken. Constance didn't know that Amelia's greatest fear was actually her, having Carixula, that her fear was losing her deputy who had come to mean as much as a daughter to the headmistress – it was the fear of Constance's death which had killed the headmistress, and it was the admiration of her deputy which had caused her to go peacefully – even the shadows were unable to harm the headmistress in the form of Constance.

Constance saw Amelia's hand go limp. The flame was extinguished.

**And watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain  
**

Amelia was gone.

**Sail far away from Lullaby Bay.**___**AN: well, that's it, I hope you enjoyed and of course... all reviewers get skittles and cookies, there are also carrot sticks on offer too ^_^**_

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_**Byeeees! **_


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